Bangladesh Association for Plant Tissue Culture & Biotechnology (BAPTC&B)

Posters of Young BB at the PTC&B Conference to be Evaluated: Prizes Offered by Dr. Abul Hussam
Austin March 10, '08. The reputed Bangladeshi chemist , Dr. Abul Hussam, who won a million dollar prize for his innovative discovery of arsenic filter, has offered prizes for the best posters to be put up tin the forthcoming Tissue Culture Conference to be held in Dhaka from 11th through 13th April. The Plant Tissue Culture and Biotech Community of Bangladesh express their profound sense of gratitude to this generous gesture of Dr. Hussam. We hope that Young BB will take this opportunity to come up with unique posters expressing their innovative ideas and bag the prizes.
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Prof. Alam will also Speak at the 2nd Congress of Yahoo Group of Young BB
Austin March 16, ’08. Professor Maqsudul Alam has consented to be the Guest speaker at the Second Congress of the Yahoo Group of Young Biotechnologists to be held on the 19th of March at the TSC, Auditorium, DU at 10 a.m. The topic of his presentation will be: Proteomics, Genomics and Bioinformatics: A System Approach to Understand Microbial Life at Extreme Environment. The theme of the Congress is: Biopharmaceuticals: Global and Bangladesh Perspectives.

The Chief guest will be the VC, DU. Among others will be the Dean of Biol. Sci. and distinguished Professors and scientists of relevant departments of DU as well as representatives from pharmaceutical companies. A large contingent of student delegates from all over Bangladesh representing various universities are expected to attend the Congress. Read the program.
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Number of Recent visitors surfing BAPTC&B Homepage
Austin 11th March, 08.With a sense of great pleasure, We would like to draw your attention to the fact that scientists of our discipline are viewing the Journal, PTC&B from all over the world. You can find it for yourself by scrolling the homepage of BAPTC&B down to the bottom of the page and clicking the word ‘Visitor’. It will reveal to you the number of visitors who have surfed our homepage (www.baptcb.org) today. To have a worldwide graphic picture country-wise, click By World Map on the left hand column under the section ‘Recent Visitors’. Underneath the map click 100, to see the countrywide distribution of the last 100 visitors. The last hundred browsers were from the following countries: Algeria, Nigeria, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iran, Yemen, Pakistan, Finland, Sweden, France, Germany, Japan, China, Taiwan, Thailand, India (Delhi, Gujrat, Karnataka, Chennai, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh), California, Mexico, Saskatchewan, Ontario, England, Argentina, Japan, multiple regions from Indonesia.
Pl enrich the journal with your original scientific- or review papers to make this journal earn further distinction in the international arena.
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Prof. Ahmed Azad and Abed Chaudhury and Dr. Zaheed Husain Attending the PTC and Biotech Conference at Dhaka
Austin March 11, ’08. According to the information reaching the Moderator, Professor Ahmed Azad will be attending the Plant Tissue Culture & Biotech to be held from 11 through 13 April. An invitation extended to him by the United Nations University to participate in the Framework Setting Dialogue on "Governing Science in Developing Countries" to be held in KL on April 7 and 8, has made it possible for him to come to Dhaka for the conference. The topic of his presentation will be announced as soon as it is finalized by the Program Committee of the Conference. BAPTC&B and GNOBB heartily welcome him and appreciate the gesture of Professor Azad who would be coming to Dhaka on his own from KL to promote the cause of biotechnology in BD. Dr. Zaheed Husain will talk on, "Biotechnology Research in the Post-Genomic World. Dr. Husain is now in Malaysia as a Visiting Researcher, IBS, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
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Upcoming Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology Conf.: April 11-13, 2008
The upcoming Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology Conference will be held in the Department of Botany, Dhaka University from April 11 through 13. The theme of the conference is, “Opportunities and Challenges of Agricultural Biotechnology in Developing countries.” The 3-day conference will meet in eight sessions as follows: a) Production of horticultural, ornamental, timber and other cash crops through in vitro techniques; b) Micropropagation of medicinal plants and conservation of biodiversity; c) Progress and prospect of commercialization of in vitro derived plants and value-added products; d) Tools for crop improvement: In vitro techniques, DNA markers and sequence information; e) Status and prospect of transgenic crops in developing countries; f) Impact of biotechnology in agricultural and economic development; g ) Biotechnology in Pharmaceutical Industry; h) Biosafety, IPR and other legal issues related to biotechnology. In addition, there will be poster presentations. You are only one click away from the first circular.
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Eid Mubarak (Eidul-Adha)

Austin, December 19, 2007. On behalf of Bangladesh Association for Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology (BAPTC&B), we wish to convey our heartiest Eid Greetings to all its members, authors of articles, subscribers and its well-wishers. We hope that with your cooperation, BAPTC&B will continue to serve the biotech researchers of this region in general and its members in particular by providing them an internationally recognized journal where they can publish their valuable research findings, review articles as well as news about the latest development taking place in various fields of Plant tissue culture and Biotechnology.
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Fifth International Plant Tissue Culture & Biotechnology Conference Organized on December 4 - 6, 2004 at Dhaka, Bangladesh.
About 200 scientists have participated in this conference. Thirty-seven foreign delegates from USA, Germany, India, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, and Iran have taken part in this conference. Most of these scientists are belong to the famous institutes of their countries.

About 160 scientists and observers from almost all the institutes and Universities of Bangladesh where Agricultural biotechnological research is being carried out are present in this meeting.

The Inaugural Ceremony was HELD ON the 4 th of December (Saturday) at the Department of Botany, University of Dhaka.

The Chief Guest of this opening ceremony was Professor S.M.A. Faiz, Vice-Chancellor, University of Dhaka.

The Special Guests were Dr. M. Nurul Alam, Executive Chairman, Bangladesh Agrcultural Research Council (BARC), Mr. Abdul Awal Mintoo, President, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) and Mr. Md. Yousuf Haroon Bhuiyan, Managing Director, Hamdard Bangladesh.

Professor Syed Hadiuzzaman as the Chairman of the Organizing Committee presented his Address of Welcome and he also introduced the foreign delegates.

Please click here for details of the conference >>

One-day annual conference of Bangladesh Association for Plant Tissue Culture, now renamed Bangladesh Association for Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology, abbreviated to BAPTC&B, was held on December 19, '02, in the auditorium of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI). The illustrious agriculture scientist, the driving force towards attainment of self-sufficiency in food in Bangladesh, Dr Hasanuzzaman, inaugurated the conference.

Dr. R. B. Singh, a pioneer FAO figure, engaged in assignments for improvement of agriculture in South East Asia through biotech, graced the occasion as the special guest. Professor Syed Hadiuzzaman, the president of BAPTC&B recounted the achievements of the organization during the past year; in his speech he also
mentioned about Professor A. S. Islam's contribution in launching the Society's home page, enhancing the standard of its journal by inclusion of review articles and bringing the journal online.
The plenary lecture on the present status of rice research in Bangladesh was delivered by Professor Zeba I. Seraj, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dhaka University. The conference among others was also addressed by Professor Rakha Hari Sarker, the General Secretary of the Association.

Creditable Achievement by a former DU student
Regulation of Gene Function by Short Pulses of Light

Austin Sep-15-02. Dr. Enamul Huq is now a postdoctoral fellow at the department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California at Berkeley. Earlier he did his M.Sc. in Biochemistry at Dhaka University, and Ph.D. at Purdue University under Professor Thomas K. Hodges. His Ph.D. work, comprising identification and sequencing ubiquitin gene in two IRRI varieties of rice, earned appreciation from rice geneticists. He has registered this gene. Please read his recent achievement which he accomplished together with his two other colleagues under the guidance of Professor Peter Quail.

"Phytochromes are plant photoreceptors that have two forms: Pr and Pfr. It is activated and deactivated by exposure to red- (660 nm) and far-red light (730nm) respectively. Earlier studies have shown that the photoreceptor binds to a basic helix-loop-helix protein called PIF3 (phytochrome interacting factor 3) on exposure just for a second to red light and dissociates from it, when exposed to far-red light for the same amount of time. Sae Shimizu-Sato, Enamul Huq, James M Tepperman and Peter H Quail at the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, UCB, embarked upon a project applying this principle to turn on and off a gene responsive to red and far-red light wavelength, respectively. In the September 3 issue of Nature Biotech., the above authors report that they have successfully developed a promoter system. The authors used yeast cells expressing two chimeric proteins. One is: a phytochrome-GBD (GAL4-DNA-binding domain) (GBD) fusion and the other, a PIF3-GAD (GAL4-activation-domain) fusion. They have shown that the target gene (LacZ/His) in yeast cells is activated within one second from the time cells are exposed to red light. In darkness the phy(Pr)GBD fusion protein is synthesized in the transformed yeast cells and the chromophore is attached to the phytochrome moiety to generate biologically inactive Pr form. In this configuration, Phy(Pr)-GBD remains attached to its DNA-binding site in the target promoter gene without being associated with the PIF3-GAD fusion protein.

Following an exposure just for a second to red wave length, the phytochrome moiety is converted to the biologically active Pfr form that binds to PIF3-GAD. This leads to the formation of a 3 unit complex consisting of two fusion proteins and the DNA-binding site in the promoter region of the target gene, resulting in the transcriptional activation of the target gene (LacZ/His). When cells are exposed to far-red light, within a second, the two fusion proteins are dissociated converting the phytochrome molecule to its inactive form, Pr. The gene is turned off and there is no transcription. Depending upon the wavelength cells are exposed to, the gene of interest may be turned on and off.

The authors believe that the technique to switch on/off a gene by means of short pulses of light will prove to be a powerful tool in regulating the gene function in many organisms, besides being non-toxic compared to the systems developed earlier in which recommended methods were chemicals and heat shocks.

Current Genomics Research: The Prospect of Unraveling gene function and Its Utilization for Crop Improvement

The genomics research dates back only to early ninety's. Its phenomenal and unbelievably quick progress has been possible due to technological advancements in the field of molecular biology. The human genome project in the public sector headed by Francis Collins of the National Institutes of Health was originally scheduled to be completed by 2002. The whole world was taken by surprise when this stupendous task was accomplished two years ahead of time. This is how it happened. Dr Venter Craig, the Founder of a private private company, Celera, announced that the shotgun sequencing protocol which his company has developed will enhance genome sequencing much faster that was hitherto possible. Instead of competing with one another, the public and the private institutions collaborated. and lo and behold the Herculean job was done. The announcement that this outstanding feat of human genome sequencing has been completed was made public by Dr. Collins and Dr. Venter in a befitting Whitehouse ceremony presided by President Bill Clinton.

Read the interesting story by clicking here to know about genomics research and about the different cutting edge tools that are employed to unravel the gene function; and how this knowledge may be utilized in crop improvement.

In traditional plant genetic engineering, a foreign gene (referred to as a transgene) is inserted into the nuclear genome. A current controversy regarding plant genetic engineering is the possibility of transgene escape to wild relatives through cross-pollination. Chloroplast transformation is emerging as an alternative to nuclear transformation, and may address some of these concerns. In addition to gene containment, other advantages of chloroplast transformation may include the feasibility of obtaining high levels of protein production and the possibility of producing multiple proteins using polycistronic mRNAs. In nuclear transformation, transgenes are integrated into the genome at random positions. The context of transgene insertion may influence its level of expression, a phenomenon known as “position effect”. In chloroplast transformation, on the other hand, transgenes are integrated by homologous recombination, allowing targeted insertion. Each plant cell has up to 10,000 identical copies of each plastid gene. Therefore, the expression of the transgene in transplastomics is many-fold and, once wild-type plastid genome copies are eliminated through repeated rounds of selection, a genetically stable population can be generated.

Please read the summary of the review article by Dr. Pal Maliga published in the April issue of Current Opinion of Plant Biology (vol. 5: 164-71), by clicking the title shown below:
Engineering the Plastid Genome of Higher Plants

Explanation of the figure: In a plant defense system that protects against virus attacks, a foreign nucleic acid is detected by a built-in surveillance mechanism. As a result, any RNA in the cell similar to the originally detected foreign RNA is degraded. This surveillance system slows down accumulation of viral RNAs during the infection process, allowing containment of the pathogen. Transformation of a host plant with a transgene derived from the pathogen also confers immunity against virus infection. In such transgenic plants, this system senses the transgene, thereby “priming” the plant to detect and degrade viral RNAs upon inoculation with the virus. Thus, the transgenic lines may be resistant to the corresponding virus. The above illustration shows infected rice leaves showing signs of yellow mosaic virus (YMV) disease (right), a healthy leaf from an uninoculated control (left), and the three leaves in the middle containing a transgene derived from YMV. Two of the transgenic leaves are completely resistant and one is partially resistant.

The molecular mechanisms of plant gene silencing are beginning to be understood, and significant progress has been made in this area during the past year. In the April issue of Current Opinion in Plant Biology (vol. 5: 146-50), Peter M Waterhouse and Ming-Bo Wang (CSIRO Plant Industry, Australia) discuss the current status of our knowledge about gene silencing in plants, focusing on the role of double stranded RNA (dsRNA) in this process. The authors also discuss potential applications of dsRNA-mediated gene silencing to study the function of individual genes and how this knowledge may be utilized in accelerated crop improvement programs. For details read the following article by clicking the highlighted title.
Plant Gene silencing

A New Era in the Improvement of Cereals following the Entire Genomic Base Sequence of indica and japonica supspecies of Rice

The genomes of both the japonica and indica subspecies of rice (cf. photo on the left - a rice plant during grain filling stage: Image from Science), which provide food to the majority of population in Asia and Africa and a model monocot, were sequenced and assembled by a method called shotgun sequencing. In the two articles published on the April 5 issue of Science, (296(5565):79-92 & 92-100), a group of 100 scientists headed by Dr J. Yu at Beijing Genomics Institute/Center of Genomics and Bioinformatics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, and a few more institutes from China and another group of 55 scientists headed by Dr. Stephen Goff at Torrey Mesa Research Institute, Sygenta, San Diego, CA, have published the entire DNA base sequence in the two most important supspecies of rice, Oryza sativa, respectively. While the megabase size in indica was reported to be 466, that of japonica was 420. The number of genes in indica genome has been estimated to be between 46,022 to 55,615 genes, while in japonica the suggested range is from 32,000 to 50,000 genes. Since both genomes were sequenced and assembled using the shotgun cloning sequencing, the sequences are considered "draft" versions since many small gaps remain to be identified. An international consortium led by Japan is expected to finish a more complete version of the japonica rice genome later this year based on mapped overlapping clones. It may be recalled that the genome of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana contains a smaller number of genes, i.e. 26,000. The above scientists discovered 98% synteny* between rice genome and other cereal genomes such as wheat, maize and barley. In contrast, the synteny between cereals and Arabidopsis was found to be limited. Base sequencing in the two species will usher in a new era in the improvement of cereals in general and rice in particular. Commenting on immense benefits that rice breeders may derive from the unraveling of base sequences, it was pointed out that the genes for synthesis of vitamin A are already present in the japonica rice genome in an inactivated state. In light of present findings what is principally needed is to activate those genes by means of suitable promoters etc. instead of inserting foreign genes from an altogether unrelated species, such as daffodil as was done by Ingo Potrykus to evolve 'Golden" rice.
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Synteny = Conserved large chromosome segments among related species.
Courtesy LEHLE SEEDS

Image of developing grain of Paspalum simplex (obligate apomictic tetraploid, 2n=4X=40). a subtropical grass species found in Argentina and Paraguay. The sexual compatibility of the diploid sexual races with the apomictic tetraploids of P. simplex and the availability of efficient tissue culture regeneration protocols makes this species popular for the study of apomixis. (Image from Apomixis Research in Europe, maintained by Thomas Dresselhaus.)

A number of species in both higher and lower taxa reproduce asexually without the intervention of fertilization, a phenomenon which is called parthenogenesis, one of the forms of apomixis. The progeny of parthenogenetic plants are replicas of the female parent. Double fertilization, giving rise to the endosperm, may or may not occur in a parthenogenetic dicot or monocot species. An important characteristic of apomixis is that heterzygosity is fixed and maintained by the progeny seed, instead of by annual hybrid seed production. This is one of the main reasons why plant breeders worldwide would like to incorporate the apomictic trait into food crops in order to stabilize their production and quality. In view of these considerations, this field has assumed so much importance that now there are three important research groups working in Australia, Europe and the USA, on various aspects of apomixis. In a review article entitled "Genetic and epigenetic processes in seed development" published in the February issue of Current Opinion in Plant Biology (519-25), Allen R. Lohe and Abid Chaudhury (CSIRO, Canberra, Australia),

discuss our current understanding of the various molecular mechanisms that control the seed development processes both in sexually-reproducing and apomictic plants. Dr. Abed Chaudhury (on the left) and his team at CSIRO, Australia and concerned scientists at IRRI, the Philippines, have launched a collaborative project for search of apomictic genes in rice so that no yield loss occurs in the hybrid progeny and farmers can save their seeds for plantation without having to buy seeds every year at a premium price from the multinational companies.

In the December issue of Genetic Engineering News, (vol. 21, # 21:p. 40 & 71), Vicki Brower writes about what Plant Biotechnology has achieved so far by way of enhancing crop yields, creating edible plant vaccines etc. in an article entitled, "Harnessing the Potential of Plant-Based Biotech." The author describes the research results of Professor Alexander Karasev and his team at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia.

Using spinach, lettuce and soybeans the team has reported promising results in developing edible vaccines for HIV and hepatitis B. Besides being much cheaper, plant vaccines are safe and in a matter of time will be within the purchasing capacity of average citizen in developing countries. Using tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), the group expressed the Trans-Activating Transduction (TAT) gene in the leaves of Nicotania benthamiana and spinach. However, they found it necessary to fuse the tat protein to plant virus capsid proteins in order to obtain symptoms in the treated plants in the form of leaf curling, yellowing and stunting of growth. Extractable tat protein from leaves fully retained immunological reactivity against tat-specific monoclonal antibodies.

The group has embarked another project in which they have incorporated the cloned gene into the lettuce genome in order to produce the recombinant hepatitis B vaccine. Volunteers, who ate the vaccine-containing lettuce, showed immunity against this deadly disease.

Another vaccine project, the group has been working on, is the development a rabies vaccine. The volunteers, who were given spinach containing the vaccine, showed a good antibody response. According to the author, these plant vaccines are about 2-4 years from full development.

In the December issue of Genetic Engineering News, (vol. 21, # 21, p 72 & 74), Dr. Susan Aldridge, describes the program of a recently established private pharmaceutical company called, "Meristem Therapeutics" with its headquarters at Clemont-Ferrand, France. The objective of the company is to apply a novel system to produce pharmaceuticals on an industrial scale. The method consists of using Meristem's specialized cassette to allow the plant cell to recognize the inserted human gene. Following transformation, the bioengineered plant cells are transferred to the company's phytotron. Under ideal conditions of temperature, light and humidity, healthy transgenic plants develop. After the plants grow to maturity, they are tested for the human gene targeted to these plant cells and then analyzed for expression level. Individual plants showing an acceptable level of protein are multiplied and their seeds are planted in fields in the US and France during summer and in Chile during the winter months Already, using this method the company has been able to produce 1 mg of extracted recombinant protein per one gram of corn. Although this is quite an achievement, the company thinks production may be further enhanced with the improvement of techniques. Because the technology is field- and not factory-based, the company is confident that their products will be much cheaper compared to factory-produced pharmaceuticals.

Over a period of 24 hours, leaves of Arabidopsis seedlings unfold from the central axis and then withdraw. A time-lapse video camera was used to display the rhythmic movement of the above seedling. Dr Andrew Millar's staff members at the university of Warwick, UK took the video shots.

Circadian . clocks coordinate cellular and physiological functions conditioned by diurnal fluctuation. The genes involved in this mechanism are called clock genes. Out of 8200 Arabidopsis genes surveyed recently by Steve A. Kay's group at the Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla, CA), nearly 6 per cent were found to be involved in clock control. In the August 3 issue of Science (293:880-883), Kay’s group has published the results of their study of regulatory interactions between three clock genes : LHY (late elongated hypocotyl), CCA1 (circadian clock associated 1) and TOC1 (timing of CAB expression). Their results show that the proteins encoded by two MYB transcription factor genes, LHY and CCA1, bind to a region in the TOC1 promoter to down-regulate its expression. TOC1 appears to positively regulate the expression of LHY and CCA1, indicating that this is a critical regulatory loop in the Arabidopsis circadian clock.

5th International Plant Tissue Culture & Biotechnology Conference
December 4 - 6, 2004, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Organized by:
Bangladesh Association for Plant Tissue Culture & Biotechnology (BAPTC&B)
Venue:
Department of Botany, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

About 200 scientists have participated in this conference. Thirty-seven foreign delegates from USA, Germany, India, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, and Iran have taken part in this conference. Most of these scientists are belong to the famous institutes of their countries.

About 160 scientists and observers from almost all the institutes and Universities of Bangladesh where Agricultural biotechnological research is being carried out are present in this meeting.

The Inaugural Ceremony was HELD ON the 4 th of December (Saturday) at the Department of Botany, University of Dhaka. Click here for details >>